Wet Grave
by Lucy Labrador
Summary: Feeling the emotional pain overwhelm him, Shadow takes himself somewhere quiet to reflect on his problems. Hopefully he won't make a rash decision.


**Wet Grave**

**Written for the Kelviniana forum Halloween challenge.**

Red irises reflected off the surface at the edge of the lake. Looking into the deep and murky water below him was a very solemn and broken hedgehog. Pain filled his chest, spreading throughout his body in small but powerful bursts, making him feel weaker by the second.

His breath was ragged, his cheeks soaked with tears. Gladly alone as the hedgehog didn't want anyone to see him like this, the ultimate life form was never meant to cry. The knees of the hedgehog impacted the soft grass, the palms of his hands gripped the fine blades of pasture.

The causes of his pain were several too many to count. Innumerable reasons for his despair ate away at his heart and soul as he looked into the watery depths. He'd given up on getting over his troubles since his efforts were always fruitless; whenever he got over one problem a new one came flying in. There was an inescapable feeling that he was destined to suffer.

The broken creature felt as if there was only one way to end his suffering, not by sorting out his problems as that deemed to be useless, but by ending his life altogether. He would beat those unwavering troubles by giving them no-one to bother; if there was no Shadow to torment, there was no suffering, right?

Being immortal and somewhat indestructible, obvious methods of suicide would only cause the ultimate life form more pain instead of ending it. Bullets would pierce his skin and flesh but wouldn't cause death. Poisons would burn his insides but would not end his sorry life. The same went for knifes, daggers and other sharp objects. More pain, no gain.

Starvation had no lasting effect on the _immortal_ being. The hedgehog hadn't eaten for months, for so long he felt no hunger or thirst, just a numbing emptiness inside. Sleep deprivation also proved to be unsuccessful, just as well as eating, he hadn't slept for so long. There were dark circles under his eyes but all he felt was a mere fatigue and suffered from the odd yawning fit every now and then.

Drowning, however, seemed like the right way to go. Surely oxygen starvation wouldn't hurt and once he was under, there was no way out. Shadow didn't know whether he could swim or not, he'd never tried it. Taking into consideration that he'd never tried, it was obvious that he wouldn't be able to swim since he didn't know how to.

Shadow looked up, the moon hit the centre of the sky, shining down on the surface of the water like a beam of magic. It was time. With the last of his strength, Shadow pushed himself up from the floor hoping that once he'd stepped into the water he would feel the pain no more. Just one step is all it would take to bring him to his tragic end.

That was the step he took and tumbled into the deep pool of dread, there was a low splashing sound and he was submerged into the lake, leaving no trace of his presence. Shadow sunk down further and further, with his eyes shut tight and his arms and legs kept still until he hit the sandy bottom of this lake of sorrow.

He wasn't expecting to see Maria when he died, nor the professor or anyone for that matter. He didn't believe in the afterlife, heaven, hell, re-incarnation or anything of the sort. He believed that when he died it would just be over and he would be no more. It would certainly be better than existing forever and continuing to feel this pain. It was better to expect nothing than to hope for a heaven of dead loved ones and bliss only to be met with nothingness. It was best this way.

Not having breathed for over a minute now, Shadow became desperate for air. Naturally, he tried to breathe in which only resulted in filling his lungs with water. This was much more painful than he expected, but there were still no regrets. Regrets would have no benefit because there was no way out.

With muscles shaking and his brain burning, Shadow tried to let out a cry of distress, but all it did was fill him with even more water. His lungs and stomach were full of liquids, making the hedgehog heavier, thus trapping him at the bottom lake. It became agonising, his mind became empty, the end seemed inevitable. Finally.

Red irises reflected off of the surface at the edge of the lake. The irises blinked twice in astonishment. The owner of the eyes stumbled backwards in shock and surprise then fell backwards onto the floor. "Was I really… going to jump in?" Shadow trembled while sweat drops of fear dripped from his forehead. Shakily, the hedgehog got up from the floor, turned and ran. He wanted to take himself as far away from the lake as he could and avoid all deep bodies of water.

**Lucy Labrador**


End file.
